The Twins’ Taj Bradley, who had a rough outing in his first start for the Twins, bounced back in a big way on Saturday by allowing just a run across five innings.
But baseball games are not five inning affairs, so after Bradley stepped aside the Twins sunk faster than the Titanic.
Portland native Mick Abel served up six runs (five earned) in one inning, reliever Brooks Kriske coughed up three more runs and Genesis Cabrera served up two more to hand the San Diego Padres a 12-3 win.
The Twins will try again on Sunday. Joe Ryan gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–Bradley’s line: One run allowed on one hit, a home run, across five innings with three walks and six strikeouts.
–Abel’s line: Six runs allowed (five earned) on seven hits with a walk and a whiff in an inning of work.
–Kriske’s line: Three runs allowed on three hits, including a home run, with two walks in an inning of work.
–Cabrera’s line: Two runs allowed on three hits, including a dinger, with a walk and two strikeouts in an inning of work.
–Byron Buxton hit his 28th home run in the game to tie his career single-season high. He last hit 28 long balls in 2022.
–With the game well out of hand, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli called on position player Ryan Fitzgerald to pitch the ninth and he tossed a scoreless frame on nine pitches.
–Ex-Twin Luis Arraez had a hit, a walk and scored two runs.
–The Twins have lost five straight series since taking two of three games from the Royals in early August. They have lost series to the Yankees, Tigers, Athletics, White Sox and Blue Jays.